Senior Mechanical Engineer

Shape products that leave the workshop & end up on-farm

eShepherd is growing - and we’re hiring a Senior Mechanical Engineer to help build the next generation of virtual fencing technology.

This isn’t a role where designs disappear into endless review cycles. You’ll work across the full product lifecycle, owning mechanical design decisions from concept and prototyping through to production, testing, and field feedback. The work is hands-on, highly collaborative, and grounded in real-world performance.

You’ll join a fast-moving R&D environment backed by the scale and stability of Gallagher, giving you the opportunity to work on globally deployed technology with the pace and influence of a growth-stage product team.

If you enjoy practical engineering, solving tough design challenges, and seeing your products used in the field - this is the kind of role that keeps things interesting.

Why engineers thrive at eShepherd

This is the kind of environment where engineers get close to the product, the problems, and the impact of their work. You won’t be stuck designing in isolation - you’ll work alongside cross-functional teams, see products tested in the field, and help shape technology that’s genuinely changing how farming operates globally.

Here you’ll:

• Build products used by farmers around the world
• Be in a high-impact role with genuine ownership and influence
• Work across concept design, prototyping, manufacturing, and field improvement
• Be part of a strong pipeline of product development work and continued R&D investment
• Enjoy a collaborative team culture across engineering, manufacturing, and product teams, with regular involvement with customer-facing colleagues
• Be part of eShepherd’s startup-style pace backed by Gallagher’s long-term stability and resources

The work you’ll do

You’ll work closely with electronics, firmware, manufacturing, supply chain, and customer-facing teams to design and improve robust hardware for demanding agricultural environments.

Key areas of focus include:

• Designing mechanical components, assemblies, and mechanisms for new and existing products
• Taking ownership of designs from concept through to production release
• Developing practical solutions across plastics, sheet metal, enclosures, and structural components
• Supporting prototyping, testing, DFM reviews, and manufacturing readiness
• Investigating product issues in-market and leading root cause analysis activities
• Translating customer and field feedback into meaningful product improvements
• Collaborating with suppliers and manufacturing partners to optimise performance and reliability
• Contributing to engineering best practice and supporting less experienced engineers where needed

Who we want

We’re less interested in polished corporate backgrounds and more interested in engineers who like building things, solving problems, and working closely with real products.

You’ll likely bring:

• 5+ years’ experience in mechanical or product development engineering
• Experience designing physical products that have made it into production
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, DFM principles, and supplier engagement
• Experience with plastics, assemblies, mechanisms, or electromechanical products
• Confidence troubleshooting failures and working through structured problem solving
• CAD capability (Creo experience ideal, but not essential)
• Parts design for plastics injection moulding experience
• A collaborative, practical approach and strong communication skills

Bonus if you have:

• Experience in R&D or fast-paced product development environments
• Exposure to electronics or mechatronics
• Experience supporting products already in-market
• Background working within companies that design and manufacture their own products

The environment

eShepherd combines the pace and influence of a scaling agritech business with the backing of Gallagher. Engineers here work closely with real products used in rugged, real-world environments, so the engineering approach is grounded in useability, reliability and continuous improvement – not perfection on paper.

What’s on offer

• Competitive salary + incentives
• Strong career growth opportunities
• Collaborative engineering culture with real product ownership
• Life & Disability Insurance, KiwiSaver, wellbeing support, and staff benefits
• Free parking and subsidised café at the Hamilton office

Applications

We’ll be reviewing applications as they come through and may appoint before the closing date.

If this sounds like the kind of engineering environment you’ve been looking for, we’d love to hear from you. Even if you don’t tick every single box, strong practical engineers with curiosity and product mindset are encouraged to apply.